A place for a tired old woman to try to figure things out so that the world makes a bit of sense.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Oh, Balderdash!

I give the editorial in today's Washington Post a 5: undanceable, but some interesting lyrics.

The announcement by British authorities of the arrests of some would-be terrorists shocked all of us, I'm sure, but only for a little while. That there are still Al Qaeda plots in operation is no real surprise, if only because the head man is still un-arrested. Apparently he's not even a person of interest to our current regime. The Emperor would rather listen in on our telephone conversations and read our email than worry about capturing Osama bin Laden.

The WaPo editorialist, however, does seem to understand at least some of this:

But if the inquiry fills out the outline provided yesterday, it will serve, first, as a chilling reminder of how many people remain committed to murdering innocent civilians; and, second, as a reassuring reminder of the solid police work (in this case, in Britain) unseen by most of us. There will continue to be legitimate questions about the workings and organization of homeland security departments here and abroad and about whether vast sums appropriated since 2001 have been spent wisely. But the emergence of one terrorist plot from the shadows should bring to mind the many men and women in the United States and elsewhere working every day with determination, and usually without credit, to block such plots.

...In our view, point-scoring from either side isn't very useful. Over the past couple of years, as the threat seemed to recede, maybe it seemed okay to shape positions on terrorism based on polling results and electoral prospects. Now, we're reminded, that isn't acceptable, and neither are the stale and unproductive either-or arguments the nation gradually slid into. We have to conduct intensive police investigations and protect civil liberties; protect the ports and take the fight to the enemy and reach out to broader Muslim communities. And we need to understand that no approach is going to make the nation absolutely safe anytime soon.

As long as we continue in the occupation of Iraq and as long as we allow Israel to bomb and occupy Lebanon, the "broader Muslim communities" will continue to see the US as on a 21st Century Crusade against Islam and will continue to be the nesting places of the next generation of jihadists.

Yes, Virginia, there are those who wish to harm this nation. Rather than undercutting the reasons for such animosity, however, this regime has chosen instead to give our putative enemies more fuel for the conflagration.